Authorities ID husband and wife killed in Missouri Heights shooting

MISSOURI HEIGHTS – Eagle County authorities have released the identities of a husband and wife who died of gunshot wounds they suffered at their Missouri Heights home Saturday.

Jessie Mosher, spokeswoman for the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, said Sunday that the married couple were Andrew Mazeika, 68, and Judi Mazeika, 54. The double shooting, believed to be a murder-suicide, occurred sometime around 11 or 11:30 a.m., she said.

Mosher said the investigation remains open. She said she could not yet release specific details about the shooting, such as who was shot first. The county Coroner’s Office possibly could complete its autopsy Monday.

“What our investigation has led us to believe is that this was a murder-suicide. However, we can’t make that final statement until after the autopsy results. Confirmation on that is pending the final report from the Eagle County Coroner’s Office on the cause of death,” she said.

She said a single firearm, a handgun, was involved. She said she didn’t know how many shots were fired or how long the Mazeikas lived in Missouri Heights. Property records show the husband bought the home in May 1988. The Sheriff’s Office never previously responded to any domestic incidents at the home, she said.

The couple had a daughter who is a minor, Mosher said. She was not home at the time of the shooting. Mosher said she didn’t know if the daughter lived at the residence.

Judi Mazeika was pronounced dead on the scene. Andrew Mazeika was transported to Valley View Hospital. Mosher said that she learned at 4 p.m. Saturday that he had died.

The home where the two were found is at 104 Vega Road in the Missouri Heights subdivision, outside El Jebel. Vega Road comprises five to seven residences; the closest home to where the shootings occurred is about 75 yards away, Ron Ryan, undersheriff with the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office, said Saturday.

Authorities received a call around 11:30 a.m. from a person who reported that shots were heard in the area, Mosher said. The initial call was that two women had been shot, Ryan said.

“The original call was that shots had been fired in front of the house,” he said.

Authorities found both husband and wife on the lawn outside their residence on Vega Road, said Ryan, who along with three deputies from Pitkin County provided mutual aid at the scene, he said.

“There are some details at the scene that would suggest who played a role, but it’s an Eagle County investigation, and it would be inappropriate for me to say anything,” Ryan said.

“That’s all the information we have at this time that we can release, pending the autopsy results,” Mosher said.

Public records show that Andrew Mazeika filed for divorce in October in Garfield County. In January, a separation agreement was entered in court. Records suggest that the matter was officially resolved in February and that the marriage was not dissolved.

Homicides are a rare occurrence in the Roaring Fork Valley. The last murder in the mid- to upper half of the Roaring Fork Valley was a murder-suicide in November 2005 when a man killed a woman and then turned his gun on himself.

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